1. ©2005 Bits of News
Spy Assisted Soviet in Defeating Germans at Kursk
Topic: Culture History
Author: Geir E. Jansen
Date: Sunday, April 17 @ 18:29:08 CEST
Scottish graduate of Glasgow University and Trinity College, Cambridge, John Cairncross, a member of the
notorious spy-ring nicknamed "Cambridge five", played an important part in assisting the Soviets in
winning the greatest tank-battle in WW II at Kursk, Scotsman reports.
The British government did not want to pass the information they had on the German troops to the Russians,
in fear of revealing to the Germans that they had cracked the Enigma-code.
Cairncross had access to top-secret Allied intelligence intercepts of German radio traffic which - in a
treasonable breach of security - he passed direct to the Soviet High Command.
His information, taken from Enigma machine code breakers at Bletchley Park, tipped off the Russians about
new German tanks and formations for the forthcoming Battle of Kursk, the biggest tank battle in history.
Cairncross began work at the British code-breaking centre at Bletchley Park in March 1942. The top-secret
country house was filled with mathematics and language experts who were able to decode the
‘unbreakable' German military ciphers.
As information emerged in early 1943 about the looming German summer offensive, Cairncross had access
to large amounts of information about the Nazis' plans. The British government was edgy about sharing too
much of the decoded information with the Russians for fear that the Germans might suspect subterfuge and
change their codes.
Using Cairncross's information, the Russians found that the best way to stop the new tanks was by laying
ambushes, especially for the larger vehicles.
The preparations were so successful that by the end of the first day of action the Germans had lost 568 tanks,
a disaster for Hitler. What made matters worse for the Germans was that they had too few transporters to
cope with the scale of their losses. Tanks which might have been recovered and repaired were instead carted
away by the Russians, either to be used against the Nazis in battle or studied by the Soviets in detail.
The German army was so weakened after the three-week battle that they were never again able to launch a
major offensive on the Eastern Front. They lost 70,000 men, 3,100 tanks and mobile guns, and 1,400 planes,
Scotsman continued.
This article comes from: Bits of News •
Article URL: http://bitsofnews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=816&mode=&order=0&thold=0
Page 1/1
Created by Bits of News • http://bitsofnews.com